Lubricating



Jan, 8 I924,

Filed March 2, 1920 K. O. LEON LUBRI CATING Olen-2 Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

erm-E.

KARL OSKARLEON, OF STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

NYA NORDISKA. KULLAGER AKTIEBOLAGET, OF. GOTTEN'BORG, SWEDEN.

LUBRICA'TING.

Application filed March 2, 1920. Serial No. 362,861.

7 '0 all to ham it may concern Be ,it known that I, KARL OSK'AR LEON,

citizen of Sweden, residing at Stockholm, in Sweden, have nvented certain newand useful'lmprovements in Lubricating, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention refers to means for lubricating shaft bearings and has for its object to provide means'for a reliable and 1c safeworking supply of lubricant to abear- 1 supply of lubricants to the bearing diflicult as for instance is the case with water .t'urbines, machines in the paper pulp industry andthe like. p p I The invention consists therein, that a cer- 14 min ure is effected to the lubricant in 1 the bearing in order to overcome the resistance set forth by the water or humidity which surrounds the shaft in the bearing so "that the lubricant'will not be displaced by "t-he counterpressure of the water.

The invention further consists therein that the pressure, wanted is obtained by means of a container for a pressure fluid whmh is inserted into the conductor sup- 2 plying the lubricant to the bearingwhich container co-operates with the admission valve for the lubricant, the pressure of V which corresponds to the certain. pressure wantedon the lubricant in the bearing.

The pressure fluid can be of any arbitrary kind and may consist in a liquid for income I pressed air or in any other suitable comlower side of theplate e. The cavity l in the casing Z abovetheldisc a is in communipressed "gas. The vessel. for the lubricant may be pro- 40 vided to work under pressure, so that lubricant will be forced into the bearing through the admissionvalve when opened bythe action of the pressure-container. I the acoo-mpanying drawingthereis illustrated an embodiment, of theinv'ention to exemplify a mode of employment.

w Referring to the figure ashaft a ismounh] ed injan antifrictmn tlUliSfibBHlhg comr prising two thrustcollars with balls b op- A erating'therebetween. Thefbearing is encircled by a casing 0, which must be closed 'r all around. -Around the shaft ends, .as illus- ;t'r ated a stuiiing gland (Zandpackingefse- "water or humidity surrounding, and at the cure the tightnessof, the casing c against the f p r y p d p pressure of'the water or humidity surround upper side of the casing c is provided a collar 7 into which theneck of an intermediate member it is screwed. On the member h there isfscrewed a vessel 9 for the lubricant either directly or, as exemplified in the drawing, bymeans of a further intermediate member is. i The upper part of this member 70, or, if theintermediate member 70 is dispensed with the bottom ofthe vessel 9 the member h alarm d as a casing Z pr'O ectmg into the vessel 9 and covering a cavity} the bottom of which is closed by a disc n'passed into a corresponding recess in i the walls of the member 70 or the correspond- .ing portion of thelv'essel g, if member 7a fails, the upper side of the member h is provided with an annular edge It, which'supports ac'orru'gated plate 2 upon which a downward directed annular shaped edge n ofthe 'disc n rests, The corrugated plate 2 screws as a portion wall between a cavity 2 above the plate 2 and a cavity 2 below said plate, and the lastinentioned cavityis in communication with the interior of the bear ing casing 0 bylmeans-of a passage )5 through the neck of the member h. The cavity .2," is completely closed and contains a quantity of a liquid or a gas under pressure.

Upon the upper side of the corrugated plate 2 rests the disc shaped end of ttgPiSllOIl In, the upper end of which 'support-s a valvezmr ar- Ianged so as to close against (the fluidpres surein the vessel g. A'spiral spring 8, keeps the piston 70, pressed downwardstowards the corrugated plate .Insimilar way a spring 3 forces a piston lc 'with its disc shaped upper ,end upwards towards 1 the cation with the interior? of; the: casing q I by means of a passage ;Z throughthe' neck'of the member Y This embo iment of my improved lubricating device operates as follows The vessel q issu'pplied with aflubricant ;to.a-suj.table extentand attached to the casing The twothreadedholes on theright hand side ofthe vessel 9 may beutilized as can bewpoured in through a. hole atthe top of thejga'ug'e t which ;hole is closed. by, a

jOints'fot anoil ga-ugej and thelubricant v ing which normally will occur in the hearing casing 0. If this pressure would happen to fall below its normal value, the same decrease of the pressure takes place in the cavity a by means" of the communication 7%, and as a consequence the excessive pressure in the closed cavity a, forces down the middle portion of the corrugated plate 2 whereby the piston 70, under the action of the spring 8 descends in the same degree as the plate .2 becomes deflected downwards. The valve m now is caused to open inwards the cavity Z, and the lubricant forced down into the bearing through the cavity Z and the passage Z by the weight of the lubricant in the vessel 9. As soon as the pressure in the bearing casing 0 has attained its normal value, the corrugated plate 2 is forced backwards and the piston 70, raised closing the valve m and interrupting fur ther supply of lubricant into the bearing casing 0.

The vobject of the improved lubricating device is to maintain a certain pressure in the casing c, and this pressure must exceed the pressure ofthe fluid surrounding sald casing. Of course from a theoretical point of view, it is possible to bring the lubricant in the casing under a certainpressure from the beginn ng, which pressure, 1f the tightemng means (such as the packmg 6) should be completely eflective in all directions,

could be maintained. tightening means, which are used in prachas, never operate entirely satisfactorily,

the provision of a device is necessary which functions to maintain the pressure in the casing c at apredetermined height, or in other words at a height in excess of the pressure outside-the casing 0, so that the sur- 1 rounding fluid is unable to enter the casing of the bearing 6. The interior of the cas- 1ng 0 according to this invention is by .means of the passages Z in communication with the vessel 9, which contains a lubricant, subjected to a certain pressure- The proper height of this pressure however, is of but little importance. The passages be tween the vessel g and the casing 0 is controlled by the automatically operating valve m, which is actuated in one direction bythe diaphragm .e and this member is actuated by the pressure in the hermetically sealed cavity 2, which cavity from the beginning is filled with some. fluidunder a certain pressure; 1

, As soon as the pressure on the underside of thediaphragm a, that is, the pressure within the casing 0, remains constant, the valve m is in a definite position, which in this instance means that the passage from the vessel g is closed. If, on the contrary, the pressure in 0 falls below its normal value, the valve m is forced downwardly by the greater presure in the vessel 9 and when the Since, however, such pressure in the vessel 9 may be of any arbitrary height, without having any influence upon the pressure in the casing c. For instance an air pump may be provided by meansof which the pressure required in the vessel 9 may be maintained, it onl; being necessary that the pressure in the vessel g does not fall below the pressure required to open the valve m when the pressure in the casing 0 falls below normal. The air pump can be applied by means of the threaded hole shown in the top of the vessel gi To this hole in the upper part of the vessel 9 there is joined a pipe 0 which is connected with a pump cylinder 79 having a plunger 7*. Through this arrangement it is possible to procure a pressure in the vessel g. It is to be observed, that it is unimporant what pressure there will be in the vessel as the supply of the bearing is independent of how the valve m is working. This valve is in its turn influenced by the membrane 2 and the operation of the membrane 2 is regulated by the pressure in the hermetically sealed cavity .2. It is to be borne in mind that the casing c encloses entirely the bearin 6.

lFrom the description given it is evident, that the lubricating pressure in the bearing casing 0, will be kept constant or practically constant at a value corresponding to the normal counter pressure of the water sur rounding on account of the fluid pressure in the closed cavity a, provided that the weight of the lubricant quantity in the vessel g is suflicient to counteract the pressure in the bearing 0, that will say the weight of the lubricant quantity in the vessel 9 is to be greater than or equal to the fluid pressure in the closed cavity 2,. If not an. additional pressure will be necessary in the vessel g to force the lubricant into the bearing case 0.

Having thus clearly described my invention and how it is to be performed what I claim as new and want to protect by Letters Patent is 1. An improved device for feeding lubricant into a shaft bearing comprising a vessel for the lubricant, a passageway from said vessel into the bearing, a check valve to automatically shut of? said passageway, a closed pressure fluid container with a flexible bottom, a piston resting upon said flexible bottom and supporting said check valve, a spring for forcing said .piston toward said flexible bot tom, a passageway from the bearing to the rear side of the said flexible bottom, a spring actuating said flexible bottom on the said rear side to counterbalance the fluid pressure in the container, and means to control the spring action upon the said flexible bottom.

2. In combination, a shaft, a bearing for said shaft, a casing enclosing said bearing, a lubricant supply vessel, means for creating a pressure within said vessel sufiicient to prevent moisture from entering the easing, a passageway for feeding lubricant from the vessel to the casing, a valve for controlling the flow of lubricant through said passageway, and pressureresponsive means responding to pressure variations in the vessel and casing for opening said valve when the pressure in the casing falls below the pressure in the vessel.

3. A combination as claimed in claim 2 in which the pressure responsive means includes a chamber containing fluid under forming one wall of said chamber, a stem,

having one of its ends operat-ively connected to said valve and its other end engaging said diaphragm, a spring for urging said stem towards said diaphragm, a second stem engaging the opposite side of said diaphragm, and a spring for urgingthe second stem towards said diaphragm.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signaure.

KARL OSKAR LEON. 

